SBLive in Cakewalk and Sonar

[mayan]

I recently went from Cakewalk to Sonar and upgraded to Win2K. I am currently using the WDM drivers from Win2K and NOT the Liveware WDM drivers (although, who knows, maybe I'll switch). I'm using

Under the new configuration, I now have an SBLiveUART MIDI device which seems to be taking the place of the MIDI synth that used to show up under the old regime. I never quite understood how it all shook out...Do I want to assign the SBLive UART to my Roland Keyboard or do I want to assign the SBLive A and B synths to the Roland and the UART device to Soundfont - or whatever.

In other words, is it better to assign one device or another to either Soundfonts or the Roland in Sonar?

One other question: A little far-fetched, but let's say I wanted to write my first symphony and have 32 MIDI channels of beauty streaming through the piece. Will I be able to get that with the Roland and Soundfonts. Can I actually access more than 16 MIDI channels on the Roland? My guess is a resounding "no" but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks,
S.

 

[AlChuck]

I'm a little confused by your question. Synth A and Synth B are the synths on the card. The MIDI Uart device is the MIDI interface. You use that to send and receive MIDI signals to and from the outside of the computer. It does not make sounds itself, it's only the gateway for the MIDI data in and out of the computer. (You can think of the path to Synth A and Synth B as two virtual MIDI cables that exist inside the SB Live.)

The MIDI data in your Cakewalk tracks can be routed to either Synth A or B, or back to the Roland. If you set a track up to send MIDI messages out to the MIDI Out port, and you connect it via a cable to the Roland, then the Roland will respond to the messages in that track.

As far as the other question:

...let's say I wanted to write my first symphony and have 32 MIDI channels of beauty streaming through the piece. Will I be able to get that with the Roland and Soundfonts. Can I actually access more than 16 MIDI channels on the Roland? My guess is a resounding "no" but I thought I'd ask.

I'm happy to say your guess is wrong. You should have 16 channels of MIDI for synth A, another 16 for Synth B, and another 16 for the MIDI Out port. That's 48 parts that can potentially be used right off the bat. (For even more channels you can use software synths too, but at the cost of digital audio tracks.) There are some limitations -- I'm not sure about this, but I think only one of the A and B synths will load up Sound Fonts, so if I'm right you would be stuck with the standard GM sounds for 16 of your channels.

 

[mayan]

I realize my question may be confusing...Not sure I can eloquently restate it - and you've essentially answered it, Al - but, here goes: In the Sonar Instrument define panel, I can assign MIDI channels from either the SBLive MIDI synth or the MIDI UART. Should the Roland be assigned to the MIDI UART or to the SBLIVE MIDI Synth? If the UART is the MIDI port, then it sounds like -from your answer - that the Roland should be assigned to the UART.

I don't know whether its the basic WDM drivers -or what - but I don't have the SBLIVE Synth A and B. Just SBLive MIDI synth. This is a way different configuration than what I had with CWPRoAud9.

Finally, does anyone recommend going with different drivers than the Win2000 WDM drivers?

 

[AlChuck]

If you select the MIDI Uart as the output, then you'll be sending the MIDI data for that track out the MIDI interface. So, yeah, plug the MIDI cable into the Roland.

Still a bit confused by your choice of words: can the Roland be assigned to the SB Live MIDI synth? Well, if your MIDI input is coming from the Roland, then the output device is set to the SB Live synth, you're going to play the SB sounds, so I guess that's "assigning" the Roland to the SB Live synth in a sense, but I think we are just getting confused a bit with terminology.

The MIDI In is carrying signals from the keyboard into the MIDI interface. Cakewalk gets the MIDI messages and routes them to the output device of your choice. In your case it sounds like you have the choice of sending them back out the MIDI Out port or the one SB Live MIDI Synth that's showing up. (That sucks that you don't see both A and B any more...)

I hope that's clearer.

 

[mayan]

I think I understand the concept on MIDI In. Do I want to have SBLive MIDI Synth or SBLive UART as my preferred MIDI output device in my Sounds and Multimedia settings? Your help is very much appreciated.

 

[AlChuck]

Oh, you talking about the Windows control panel settings now? I don't think it matters too much; Windows will use whatever you select there as its default when something that can play a MIDI file opens up, like perhaps a MIDI file embedded in a web page that wants to start playing when you load the page... but for Cakeawalk and any recording applications, it doesn't really matter, you can select any and all devices that you have enablked in Cekwalk whether they are the preferred WIndows device or not.

One thing to watch out for (and I keep forgetting to change this myself) is that if system sounds are enabled, it's possible that Windows might get an internal message that causes it to generate a sound while you are recording... this can cause problems (like a system sound in the middle of a perfect take -- also, I've heard somewhere that, since the system sounds are 16 bit, if you have a 24-bit session going on it might try to make the card switch to 16 bit so it can play the sound). This is for the WAV playback device, nothing to do with MIDI...